We asked our community of alumni, students, faculty, staff, and supporters to share their stories. This week we feature a Q&A with alumna Naga Sowjanya (Sowju) Mudunuri who earned her MS in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2009.

Q: What is your career like today?

A: I am a Backend Software Engineer on the Fitstar team at Fitbit. Fitstar is a Personal Trainer and Yoga App and I develop code for different microservices that serve the necessary backend functionality for the Web and Mobile Apps.

Q: Do you have advice for students who want to become software engineers?

A: It is very rewarding to be a software engineer. I get to build different products, solve complex engineering problems using code and see the results sooner. I was a hardware engineer for a couple of years working at different semiconductor companies before I made the switch to be a full-time software engineer. The agility that software processes bring to the table, being able to see the products I build sooner, the open source aspect, and being on the latest tech are the most rewarding aspects of being a software engineer.

Q: How did your education at UCSB prepare you for your current path?

A: My time at UCSB Engineering laid a strong foundation and prepared me to face real world challenges. As a software engineer you need to be able to quickly pickup new programming languages and stay on top of the latest tech trends, and since I had a strong foundation during my time at UCSB I approach every new challenge in my life and career with the Gaucho Pride.

Q: What kind of challenges did you face after graduation?

A: One of the challenges I faced after graduation is not knowing what I didn't know or what I needed, when I made the switch from hardware to software. As I attended a lot of coding meetups and made new friends in similiar walks of life, I was fortunate to have a couple of mentors in my journey.

Q: What are some things you liked most about being at UCSB?

A: The Beach, the smaller classes, the important professional network and the resilience I developed as I graduated.

Q: What's your advice for students today that might identify with your career path?

A: I highly recommend current UCSB Engineering students to follow @GauchosInTech on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group. The purpose of this network is to encourage more UCSB students and alumni engagement so we can connect, learn about career opportunities, and mentor each other.

Thank you, Sowju!

Further Reading

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